If you did not make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here is what you missed…

President’s Dinner/End Of Year Celebration- This Week!: Remember that our annual end of the year celebration will take place this Wednesday, June 28. The celebration will start at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m., and will be held at Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave. RSVPs were due to President Janet on Friday. We will not have a noon meeting this Wednesday.

Dinner of pork tenderloin will be $30 per person. Please join us as we celebrate President Janet’s year and look forward to President Amy’s year. It will be a great celebration so please join us!

Upcoming Meetings: After our End of the Year Celebration on June 28, our meetings on July 5 and July 12 will be held at the Grove Room at the Forest Grove School District offices. Our July 19 and 26 meetings will be back at Pacific University.

After July 26, our weekly meetings will take place at the Cornelius Public Library for the foreseeable future. Due to renovations to Pacific Hall (the former library), our usual meeting space in the University Center will be used as classroom space for much of the 2023-24 academic year. More details on the meetings and how meals will work will be. Available as we get closer to that transition.

Name Badges – The Rules Have Changed: With the fact that we will be moving from place to place for the next few months, members were asked to take their badges home with them at last week’s meeting. Normally, we would fine members for taking their badges home…but it is now the opposite. Please bring your own badge to the meeting to avoid a $1 fine. All fine money collected goes towards the club’s contribution to the PolioPlus fund.

No word was available on how members who did not make last week’s meeting (like the newsletter editor, who is producing this week’s Rototeller in London) can acquire their badge and avoid a fine.

Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade – Volunteers Still Needed: In an effort to promote the Concours d’Elegance, we will march in the Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade again this year. This is sure to be a fun morning as we work to promote our biggest fundraiser of the year. Please Sign Up On Sign Up Genius to take part and contact President Janet with any questions.

Thank You Scouts BSA Troop 213: For decades, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove has been the charter organization for Scout BSA Troop 213. As part of being chartered by our club, the troop is a regular presence at some of our bigger functions, including the Crab Feed, Steak Feed and the Concours d’Elegance.

At Wednesday’s meeting, we were honored to present a check to the troop for $1,000 to help further their mission to working with the youth in our community. Thank you Troop 213!

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May 2020 (over 100 videos to date) are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Concours d’Elegance News
Concours – Volunteer Assignments: The annual Concours d’Elegance is coming up on Sunday, July 16. As you may know, this is an “all hands on deck” event for the club. We need every club member involved on show day to make sure that we put on the most successful event possible.

Club volunteer assignments have been posted Here On Sign Up Genius. Please take some time to look at the page to see where you are assigned. If you have any questions on assignments, please contact President Janet.

New Concours Shirts Are In: If you ordered a new Concours d’Elegance polo shirt, it is now available for pick up. Shirts are $29.50 each. See Tim Pearson at a club meeting or contact him to make arrangements for pick up. Please make sure to have money available at the time of pick up.

Concours Sponsorship Opportunities: It is not too late to secure sponsorships for the Concours d’Elegance. There is plenty of sponsorship opportunities for both businesses and individuals for starting as low as $250. How important is sponsorships? Most of the profit that comes from Concours, which helps pay for our service outreach and funds our Scholarship Program, comes from sponsorships.

Click Here To Download The Sponsorship Flyer, which describes a number of the show’s sponsor opportunities. For more information or to help secure a sponsorship, please contact Tim Pearson at 503-998-8616 or timpearsonpc@gmail.com or Andrea Stewart at 503-357-1427 or astewart@pacificu.edu.

Concours Concert – “Celebrating Our Senses”: The Concours d’Elegance will once again feature a Friday night vineyard concert. The second “Celebrating Our Senses” will take place on Friday, July 14 at the Eagles Next Reserve Winery & Vineyard, 12995 NW Bishop Rd., Hillsboro. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. for the dinner event with music by Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee King Louie Pain and the Renato Caranto Trio beginning at 6:15 p.m. Dinner includes a three-course meal, featuring appetizers of charcuterie and fruits and vegetables from Wedge and Cured, a Texas-style barbeque entrée from Ferrtie’s BBQ and gourmet cookies for dessert provided some of the dedicated bakers of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove. A selection of wines from Eagles Nest Reserve Winery will also be available along with assorted ciders from Bull Run Cider Company of Forest Grove.

Tickets are $75 per person. For more information, please visit the Concert Page on the Concours d’Elegance website or contact Court Carrier at 971-404-7864 or ccarrieriv@gmail.com.

For More Information: Still curious as to what the Concours d’Elegance is all about, what it is and why we do it? We encourage you to visit the show website, forestgroveconcours.org.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Elks Backpack Program: The Elks Backpack Program, which provides food for youth in the Forest Grove School District experiencing food insecurity, is looking for 50 new or gently used backpacks for the program. If you have backpacks to donate, please bring those to a future meeting and we will get them to the appropriate people.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Our club’s support for the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry continues.  Thanks to its partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, food donations are still welcome but are of less need at this time. Of need, however, are toiletries and hygiene products as well as household cleaning materials.

During the summer, the Food Pantry is open Mondays from 2-3:30 p.m. The pantry will be closed on July 24 and Sept. 4. The pantry is located along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center. Click Here for more information on the FGHS Food Pantry and on other resources for those experiencing food insecurity.

For information on the Food Pantry, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Additionally, Rotarian Gwen Hullinger has put together an Amazon wish list of items that can be purchased and donated. Click Here To View That List.

Around District 5100
Rotary Friendship Exchange: District 5100 has an opportunity for Rotarians to participate in a Rotary Friendship Exchange. District 5100 and District 3261 in NE India have combined forces to create a Friendship Exchange in India in January/February 2024 timeframe. The return exchange will be in May/June 2024 timeframe here in our district.

Independent travel can be arranged before or after the exchange on your own. Indian Rotarians may be willing to help with arrangements for travel to places of interest, such as the Taj Mahal, which is located in Uttar Pradesh a state just north of District 3621. District 3621 includes all or parts of the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

If you are interested in participating in this exchange, please contact District RFE Chair Dennis Wickham, wickhamdj@comcast.net, for an application. 

Rotary Friendship Exchanges are funded by Rotarians participating on the exchange. Some clubs may help by providing funding for meals when inbound RFE Team members visit their club. Rotarians participating from this district and their club are expected to host Rotarians from our partner district and plan the various activities of the inbound RFE team. The culture of India is such that guests are not expected to pay for any of the expenses associated with being a guest! Participants in this exchange are expected to not only host inbound Rotarians but financially support activities that are planned for the inbound guests. 

District 5100 Newsletter: Click Here To View The Monthly District 5100 Newsletter

Around Rotary International
Rotary Members Weave A Global Web Of Giving For Ukraine: On 26 January in Odesa, Mykola Stebljanko spent the day under attack. A barrage of missiles killed 11 people and destroyed critical infrastructure around Ukraine, including in the city where Stebljanko lives.

Despite not having working electricity, Stebljanko – who publishes Rotariets, Rotary’s Ukrainian magazine – was determined to report on the situation and Rotary’s response to it. He was able to make a cell phone call to describe an experience he’s had several times during the past year of war.

“Sometimes we have time to go into the shelter, but sometimes there is no time — we’re just sitting in our apartment and waiting for the end,” he says. “Most of the targets are military or infrastructure objects. Not the buildings for civilians. But sometimes the missiles go to civilian buildings. We just decided, if it will be our building, that will be our destiny.”

Even under fire, Stebljanko, a member of the Rotary E-Club of Ukraine, wanted to let members around the world know how important their efforts were. In an interview, he spoke about how members established humanitarian hubs along the Ukrainian border to receive supplies and distribute them throughout the county.

In the city of Kharkiv, he noted, Rotary members who own a shopping center donated space to store supplies.

“They provided a whole underground level for the humanitarian hub,” Stebljanko says. “They provide aid each day to thousands of people. In the frontline cities, the Rotarians are real heroes. Despite their very complicated life, they try to continue to serve as Rotarians.”

Members inside Ukraine have had supplies to distribute partly because of the global network of Rotary members who have used disaster response grants to provide them. They have sent generators, medical supplies, emergency equipment, modular housing, and other provisions, as well as providing support for refugees.

The Rotary Foundation has awarded more than 375 disaster response grants, totaling more than US$17.3 million, to help people affected by the war. More than 280 districts have sponsored grants. That’s more than half of all districts.

Some governors credit their involvement to Diana Nestorova, of the Rotary Club of Acton-Boxborough, Massachusetts, USA. She led an online workshop about disaster response grants for more than 500 people in September.

“I took it upon myself to go back to everybody I knew around the world and explain: ‘What is a disaster response grant? How can you apply for it? Why apply for it?'” she says. “I saw that what [I] could do was to educate.”

Districts in more than 50 countries have used these grants to help. Beyond the nearby countries in Europe, the districts are in Australia, Bolivia, Colombia, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, and the U.S, among others. Here are some of their diverse projects.

Medical Supplies
Members of District 9350 were inspired after Ukrainian ambassador Liubov Abravitova spoke to the Rotary Club of Waterfront, South Africa. “Everyone said, ‘What can we do?'” recalls Governor Tracey Wilson. “She said, ‘You can pray or you can assist, and we’d like both.'”

Still, it was difficult for Wilson and other members in her district to decide how to help. Then they learned about the extraordinary efforts of members in District 1842 in Germany and decided to work with them. Rotary and Rotaract clubs there have created a streamlined system to deliver medical supplies. A team of 15 people communicates regularly with Rotary clubs, hospitals, and charity organizations in Ukraine about what’s needed. Then they purchase supplies in bulk, which saves money, and send them where they’ll be most useful.

“It’s mainly emergency medicine – as you would expect from a war situation – a lot of tourniquets, dressing material,” says Oliver Pannke, a member of the Rotary Club of München-Bavaria, Germany, who works full time directing the effort. When members realized how damaged the health infrastructure was, they began providing a wider range of supplies.

“We started to also send medications for blood pressure, insulin, stuff like that,” Pannke says. “Right now, we have about 150 different medications in stock here in Munich.” The team has also procured and delivered equipment used to scan for shrapnel.

Districts in Australia, Japan, and the U.S. have also used their grants to support this work.

Modular Homes
In early 2022, Russian forces destroyed nearly 85% of the buildings in Moshchun, about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the capital, Kyiv. Rotary districts around the world have donated more than 60 prefabricated homes to Moshchun and other Ukrainian communities. The houses are just 6 meters by 7 meters (20 feet by 23 feet), which is small enough to be hoisted into place by crane. They have refrigerators, beds, and bathrooms with toilets and showers. They’re also fully insulated and have electric heating panels.

This kind of donation was new for District 3462 in Taiwan, whose other ongoing projects involve installing water infrastructure, addressing basic educational needs, and protecting the environment. But Governor Stanley Shih-Yu Yang says he was moved to action.

“I received the assistance request from Ukraine Rotarians, and as a Rotarian, I felt the need to help in the first moment,” he says. “As I told the decision to Rotarians in my district, they all supported the righteous action.”

Click Here To Read The Complete Article On Rotary.org.

This story was originally published on the Rotary.org website.

Last Week’s Program: David Freas, Cornelius Public Library & Laura Caldwell, Poverty

Last week’s meeting provided for plenty of exciting presentations. In addition to the check presentation to Troop 213, we were joined by David Freas of the Cornelius Piblic Library and Laura Caldwell, who presented about poverty in our community.

David Freas took the floor to announce an exciting initiative. In collaboration with the West Tuality Habitat for Humanity, they have launched an adult reading drive. This unique program aims to address the issue of affordable housing through the power of reading. By encouraging community members to engage in literature, they hope to raise awareness and support for this pressing issue. The prospect of combining literacy with the fight against affordable housing generated palpable enthusiasm among our members.

The program concluded with a thought-provoking presentation by Laura Cardwell, the owner of Papa Floyd’s Doughnuts and a professor of economics at Portland Community College. Laura shed light on the economics of poverty, delving into both national and regional poverty trends. Her insightful presentation emphasized the growing wealth gap we are facing right here in Forest Grove, Oregon. Despite the sobering nature of the topic, Laura’s delivery was engaging and informative, leaving attendees with a renewed sense of determination to address this pressing issue.

Overall, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove’s recent program showcased our commitment to community service and highlighted the collective efforts being made to effect positive change. From supporting local organizations like the Boy Scouts of America to collaborating on innovative literacy programs, our club members continue to make a meaningful impact in Forest Grove. We remain optimistic about the future as we tackle the challenges ahead, united in our dedication to service and uplifting our community.

Special thanks to Dallas Roark for providing this week’s program recap.

Club Calendar
Wed., June 28: End of Year Celebration, 6 p.m.
Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove
Please RSVP To President Janet by Friday, June 23
There will be no noon meeting on June 28.

Wed., July 5: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District, 1728 Main St.
Program: Seth Berdahl, Forest Grove Running Club

Wed., July 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District, 1728 Main St.
Program: Concours Prep

Thurs., July 13: Executive Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
via Zoom

Sun., July 16: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Campus

Wed., July 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Dining Commons, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Eva Aguilar, Washington County Recycling

Thurs., July 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom